Supporting structure for use in the production of floors and the like



Jan. 2, 19340 H. E. MARKS ET AL 1,941,566

SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR USE IN THE PRODUCTION OF FLOORS AND THE LIKE 7 Filed Feb. '7, 1931 i LZ a '2 1 (18 i J i E i E18 fim I 1 l I I INVENTQR WITNE 5555 Patented Jan. 2 1934 PATENT OFFICE 1,941,566 SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR USE IN THE PRODUCTION LIKE FLOORS AND Herbert E. Marks, Sewickley, and Walter D. Jarvis, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignors, by direct and mesne assignments,

Marks, Sewickley, Pa.

to Mary Haines Application February 7, 1931. Serial No. 514,148

' 7 Claims. (01. 72-70) Our invention pertains to supportingstructures for use in the installing of floors or walls of concrete or other cementitious material, and relates especially to supporting structures, forithese purposes, of the character which include units adapted to be applied to the beams or other sup ports, and which units comprise a base,usually, though not necessarily, of paper or paper-like material, which carries reinforcing means for the concrete or other floor or wall material employed.

An important object of our invention is to provide a unit which will be strong enough to resist the weight or pressure of the concrete or the like when the'latteris poured or laid thereon, which will be efficient in its reinforcing effect, and which will'be' especially economical of manufacture and convenient to transport and to ap-.

ply. Another object is to provide a structure made up of separate units which the units may be connected with each other easily and quickly, so as to form continuations of each other, and in which the units may be readily secured to the beams or other supports for the floor or wall. Still further objects will appear from the following specification, taken'in connection with the claims annexed thereto.

A supporting structure constructed in accord- .ance with our invention (in this instance as 3 used in the production of a floor) is shown by Way of example in the accompanying drawing, and described in the following specification. It is to be understood, however, that changes may be made therein without exceeding the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Inthe drawing: Fig. 1 is a plan showing a part of the supporting structure in use; V Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan showing a portion of one of the units with the reinforcing element which it carries;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line III-III of Fig. 2, or an enlarged section on the line IIL-III of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan showing one of the Fig. '7 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing one of the fasteners for securing together adjacent units of the structure, and is an enlarged section on the line VIIVII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a section on the line VIII-VIII of Fig. 7, and an enlarged section on the line VIII- VIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 shows a modified means of attaching the reinforcing members to the base; and

Fig; 10 shows a modified form of fastener for securing together adjacent units of the structure.

The supporting structure of our invention comprises a plurality of units each of which includes a base 10, usually formed of paper or a paper-like material, and upon which are secured a plurality of reinforcing members 11. Each reinforcing member is of thin sheet-metal bent somewhat into the shape of a railroad rail, so as to provide lengthwise extending flanges 1J2 at the base of the member. v Portions of the flanges 12 are cut out, as indicated at 13 (Figs. 2 and-3) so as to formtongues l4, and these tongues are passed through the paper base 10 and then bent back against the base of the reinforcing member, so'asto clamp the reinforcing member securely to the paper base. The tongues 14 are preferably staggered with respect to each other on each side of the reinforcing member. 7

The rail-shaped reinforcing members give great strength to the unit, to permit it to withstandthe weight of the concrete or other material which is to'be poured thereon in the pro duction of the floor, and. constitute a very efiicient reinforcing means for such concrete. Moreover'they are in themselves inexpensive and, by the means disclosed, are attached to the base very quickly .and easily. Such base, in the embodiment of 7 our invention chosen for illustration, takes the form of a sheet of heavy paper with r, one longitudinal edge of which the ends of the reinforcing members make alignment, while the other longitudinal edge of the sheet extends beyond the-reinforcing members so as to provide an over-lap 1'0=-. The purpose 'ofthis overlap is I to enable the next adjoining unit to lie thereupon, so that when a number of the units are disposed side by side there will be a continuous support for the concrete. The units may be of considerable length transversely of the reinforcing members, and, in that connection, it will be observed that they can readily be rolled up in the direction of such length for purpos'esof transportation and can be applied easily to'the beams by simply unrolling'them lengthwise of the latter.

For securing the units to the beams, we provide a plurality of clips, each of which consists of a hook 15 shaped to engage over the top of one of the reinforcing members 11 and having secured to its base a flat transverse member 1o terminating in a pair of down-turned tongues 17. In the drawing the structure is shown as applied to a plurality of junior beams 22. The clips are applied by hooking their hooked portions 15 over the reinforcing members 11 and then forcing the tongues 17 through the paper base 10 in such a manner that the tongues embrace the edges of the beam. The tongues are then bent over beneath the beam, as clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5. In this way, the unit .is held firmly down upon the beams and secured firmly in place thereon.

The distance which separates the junior beams from each other will frequently vary; whereas we contemplate that the units of our structure shall be of standard width. Therefore the longitudinal lines of juncture of the several units of the structure'will often be located in the spaces between the beams,-Which is the condition shown in Fig. 1. The units'have great transverse stiffness, because of the reinforcing members,

but we provide additional stiffening means at the juncture of the individual units, which additional stiffening means also serves to insure that the reinforcing members 11 of the respective units shall be maintained in alignment with'one another. Such additional stiffening means, as shown, comprises a plurality of fasteners 18 made of spring metal. Each of these fastening members includes a center portion 19 shaped to fit the top part of a reinforcing member 11 and having wings 20 so disposed that by pressing inward upon the wings the center portion 19 is spread so as to enable the fastener to be applied to the abutting ends of a pair of reinforcing members 11, as shown in Figs. '7 and 8. When the pressure is removed from the wings the fastener is held on the reinforced members by its spring action. 7

When applying our supporting structure, a unit thereof is laid lengthwise along one or more floor beams of'the building and is secured to such fioor beam by means of the clips, in the manner above described. Preferably, as mentioned above, the unit comes in the form of a roll which merely requires to be unrolled along the beam or beams and then clipped in place. Then the next unit is applied to the next beam or beams in such a manner that its edge lies upon the lap 10 of the first unit and its reinforcing members 11 make alignment with those of the first unit.

The second unit is then clipped in place upon the beams, and, further, its reinforcing members are connected to the reinforcing members of the first unit by applying the fasteners 18. A further unit is then placed in position in the same manner, and so on until a supporting structure for the whole floor is completed.

Other means of securing the reinforcing members to the base may be employed in place of the tongues 14. For example, staples 21 may be inserted from th back of the sheet, as shown in Fig. 9, and their ends clamped over the flanges 12 of the reinforcing members. This provides an exceptionally economical means of attaching the reinforcing members firmly and securely in of the kind shown in Figs. '7 and 8. Other kinds of fasteners may be employed, and especially where the space between the beams is considerable, the form shown in Fig. 10 is particularly easy of employment. In such form, the fastener 22 is shaped to fit upon the reinforcing member and is provided with side portions 23 which embrace the Web portion thereof and extend down close to the flanges 12. The fastener can be made to slide on the reinforcing member and is formed bell-shaped at its outer end, as indicated at 24, and provided at its inner end with an upstanding lug 25. When a pair of bases have been placed side by'side, with their reinforcing members in alignment, the operator can reach over with a suitable tool and, by pushing or pulling on the lugs 25, slide the fasteners on the ends of one set of reinforcing members so as to telescope upon the endsof the other set, whereby the adjoining reinforcing members become firmly and strongly secured together. The bell shaped ends of the fasteners facilitates'the operation in case the ends of the reinforcing members should be slightly out of alignment.

The supporting structure of our invention has the advantages of extreme economy of manufacture, great ease of transportation and of application to the beams, large supporting strength, and high efficiency in reinforcing the concrete or other material which it supports. Its more im-' portant use is in the production'of floors, but. it has usefulness, also, in building walls, roofs and the like.

What we claim is:

'1. A supporting structure for application to beams or the like, comprising a unitary section including'a base and a reinforcing member secured to said base, and a clip having a portion for engagement with said reinforcing member and a portion for passage through said base to engage one of the beams, whereby said base is secured to said beam.

2. A supporting structure for application to beams or the like, comprising a unitary section including a base and a reinforcing member secured to said base,.and a clip having a hook portion to engage over said reinforcing member and a tongue portion adapted to be passed through said base and bent around one of the beams, whereby said base is secured to said beam.

3. A supporting structure for application to beams or the like comprising a plurality of units adapted to'be disposed side by side, each unit including a base and. a plurality of reinforcing members extending transversely thereof and terminating short of one of the sides of said base so as to provide an overlap for receiving the edge of the next adjoining unit, and clips for securing said units to the beams, each clip having a portion for engagement with a reinforcing member and a portion for passage through a base to engage one of the beams.

4. A supporting structure for the purposes set forth comprising a plurality of units adapted to be disposed side by side upon beams or the like, each unit including a base having reinforcing members secured thereto and extending from one side thereof towards the other side, said reinforcing members terminating short of said. other side in order to provide an overlap for the reception of the edge of an adjacent unit, clips for securing said units to the beams, each clip having a hook portion to engage over a reinforcing member and a tongue portion adapted to be passed through a base and bent around one of the beams, and fasteners for attachment to the reinforcing members of adjoining units to connect said reinforcing members together.

5. A unit for a supporting structure of the character set forth, comprising a base and a reinforcing member extending transversely of said base, said reinforcing member being formed of metal bent upon itself to form a main portion and a pair of oppositely disposed flanges adapted to lie upon said base, said flanges being formed with a plurality of tongues passing through said base and bent back against said flanges, thereby to secure said reinforcing 'member to said base.

6. A supporting structure for application to beams or the like comprising a plurality of units adapted to be disposed side by side, each unit including a base and a plurality of reinforcing members extending transversely from one side of said base towards the other and terminating short of said other side to provide an overlap for the reception of the edge of an adjoining unit, each of said reinforcing members being formed with a flange having a plurality of tongues passing through the base and bent back against the flange to secure the reinforcing member to the base, a plurality of clips for securing said units to the beams, each clip having a hook portion to engage over a reinforcing member and a tongue portion adapted to be passed through said base and bent around one of the beams, and a plurality of fasteners for application to the ends of reinforcing members of adjoining units, thereby to connect said reinforcing members.

'7. A unit for a supporting structure of the character set forth comprising a substantially flat base, a reinforcing member extending transversely thereof, said reinforcing member having a flange adapted to lie on said base and an upright portion disposed substantially perpendicular to said flange and formed with a laterally enlarged beaded edge to constitute keying means for cementitious material applied to said base, and means for securing said flange to said base.

HERBERT E. MARKS. WALTER D. JARVIS. 

